Bill Self, KU Agree on Contract Through 2021-22 Season

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The University of Kansas and head men’s basketball coach Bill Self have agreed to a contract designed to keep Self at KU through the 2021-22 season.

One of the winningest college basketball coaches in the country, Self led KU to the NCAA title in 2008 and to the championship game this past season. He is one of only four coaches in NCAA history to lead three schools’ teams to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. In nine seasons at KU his teams have reached two Final Fours, five Elite Eights and six Sweet 16s, and his teams have won eight straight Big 12 Conference regular-season titles. Self’s KU teams have won an average of 29.9 games per year, and have not been seeded lower than fourth in their nine trips to the NCAA Tournament.

“We believe Bill Self is among a very small number of elite basketball coaches in this country,” KU Athletics Director Sheahon Zenger said, “and this ensures that we compensate him accordingly. We are proud of the way he represents the University of Kansas, Kansas Athletics and the entire State of Kansas, and we are thrilled that he will remain our coach for at least another decade.”

“Bill Self not only wins, but he wins the right way,” KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said. “He emphasizes the importance of players being both students and athletes, and is himself an active contributor to the university and community. Bill is an outstanding coach and ambassador for KU, and I’m very happy he’ll continue to lead the team for many years to come.”

In order for Self to earn the maximum amount of the contract, including retention bonuses, he must remain as head coach at KU through the 2021-22 season. As with his previous contract, no taxpayer or tuition funds will be used to pay this new contract.

Self’s current contract, which runs through June 2018, pays him $3.376 million, including base salary and annual service payments, as well as retention payments that are payable in 2013 and 2018.

The new contract pays Self $3.856 million annually, an increase of some $480,000 per year. In addition, Self will earn a second retention bonus of $876,000 per year, payable in 2015 and 2018. That second retention bonus is replaced in 2019 by an agreement to pay Self a one-time sum of $6 million if he remains KU’s coach through March 2022.

“Cindy and I are thrilled that we will live in Lawrence for years to come,” Self said. “We love Lawrence and the University of Kansas. We’ve been fortunate to have worked with great coaches and players at KU over the past nine years; they’ve been the backbone of our success. We both are very appreciative of Chancellor Gray-Little and Sheahon Zenger for the faith and trust they have shown in us, and we look forward to our association with KU in the years to come.”

About Derek Nester

Derek Nester was born and raised in Blue Rapids, and graduated from Valley Heights High School in May of 2000. He attended Cowley College in Arkansas City and Johnson County Community College in Overland Park studying Journalism & Media Communication. After stops at KFRM and KCLY radio in Clay Center, he joined KNDY in 2002 as a board operator and play by play announcer. Derek is now responsible for the digital content of Dierking Communications, Inc. six radio stations. In 2005 Derek joined the staff of KCFX radio in Kansas City as a production coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs Radio Network, which airs on over 70 radio stations across 12 Midwest states and growing.

Every time he gets in front of the microphone, Bob Kingsley adds to his status as the most listened-to radio voice in country music history. The Host and Executive Producer of Bob Kingsley’s Country Top 40, far ...

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